


Operation: Mistletoe

by Talvin



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Comedy, F/M, From last year's Secret Santa, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 07:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20224291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talvin/pseuds/Talvin
Summary: I present to you:Operation: MistletoeA Christmas Romantic Comedy in Four Attempts.(Posted to Tumblr for Secret Santa 2018, finally getting it posted here.)





	Operation: Mistletoe

**The Setting: **

Christmas Eve, a year after the “Santa Claws Incident”. Gabriel Agreste had gone to New York for a fashion show a few days prior, only to find his flight home delayed by what the Americans call a “Nor’Easter” storm. Just before take-off, he had called Nathalie and decreed that, while they would spend Christmas Day together, Adrien was welcome to spend Christmas Eve with his friends. Nathalie made a few calls and soon Adrien (and Nino and Alya) were invited to come help prepare and give out the Chocolate Yule Logs at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

**The Plan: **

“Nino, it’s gonna work. It _has_ to work. We are going to get those two together this year! Marinette has stopped stuttering around him, Adrien is spending more time with her, all we have to do is get them to _kiss_.”

Her boyfriend shook his head, “I dunno, I mean, we’ve tried other things before, it’s never quite worked.” He was walking with his girlfriend to the bakery, where Adrien would be joining them shortly.

Alya stopped and waggled a finger under his nose. “It _will_ work. We are part-time _superheroes_, we have faced down akuma and even Hawkmoth himself, we can get two oblivious dorks to _kiss_. Besides!” She grinned cheekily and pulled something out of her pocket. “We have _mistletoe_ on our side!”

**The First Attempt:**

The doorbell rang, and Marinette flew down the stairs to the apartment entrance, Alya and Nino close behind. They were supposed to have lunch upstairs before joining her parents in the bakery, and since nobody else was expected, that meant it had to be—

“Adrien! Come ins-uhhhh hello again, sir!” 

The Gorilla filled the doorway. He looked down at Marinette, then looked up at the little sprig of leaves and white berries hanging up over the door. Marinette blanched, “Uh, whoa, how did that get there, I mean, that’s not mine, I promise!” A scowl from the bodyguard, and he reached up and yanked it free of the string that was holding it in place, tossing it in the snow. He stepped to one side and nodded at Adrien, who was bringing a small pile of gifts. 

“Sorry I’m late, Marinette, we did a little last-minute gift shopping! Merry Christmas! Oh, this one is for you! Hi, Nino! Hey, Alya!”

Adrien and Marinette went up the stairs together, leaving the Gorilla to eye the other two speculatively. With a sigh, Nino slipped out the door and retrieved the mistletoe, eliciting an amused snort from the big man. 

“Well, Alya, any more bright ideas, or should I take a turn?”

**The Second Attempt:**

The cakes were mostly made, so the teens had been put to work boxing them up and attaching labels to those which had been pre-ordered. Adrien and Marinette were working side-by-side, chattering merrily as he put cakes in boxes and she added the labels. Behind them, Nino had a broom handle, some thread snagged from Mari’s room, and of course—the mistletoe.

Carefully moved into position. Slowly, so as not to alert his prey, extended the handle so the mistletoe was directly overhead. Took a deep breath to announce that they must now kiss. 

“Pardon me! Hot pan coming through!” Tom swept through with a metal tray, and Nino jumped quickly out of the way. The broom handle swung wildly, the thread snapped. Frantically Nino looked for the mistletoe, only to come face to face with a smirking Sabine, holding the decoration by the remnant of the string.

“Nice try, you almost had them! But no horseplay in the kitchen, please, there are too many of us and not enough room. Now, since you are holding the broom, you can just work on the lobby. I’ll leave this with Alya, hmm? After I stop by to see Tom, that is!” 

So close.

**The Third Attempt:**

The third try was a literal _trainwreck_. OK, not a wreck, but a train _incident_, certainly. 

The crew had been given a break to “go take a walk in the snow, it’ll be dark soon and the lights are beautiful!” Then Alya’s news alert on her phone went off. Not, thankfully, an akuma, but one of the Metro trains had lost power in the tunnel and emergency crews were trying to lead the stranded passengers to safety. Adrien and Marinette had wandered off somewhere or other, but before Alya and Nino could look for them, Ladybug showed up with two boxes. 

“Look, I know it’s Christmas Eve, but I was right in the middle of something, and some help would be _so_ nice right now, so…please?” Naturally they agreed. 

They made their way down into the tunnel to find that Chat Noir and Queen Bee had gotten there before them and were assisting passengers along the tracks toward the emergency exits. The others jumped in and helped with crowd control while Rena Rouge provided some illusionary lights and signs to guide people along. As the only person to use her special power, she had to leave first, so she was above ground when Chat Noir came bounding out and (bad) inspiration struck.

“Chat Noir! Hey! Can I ask a favor?”

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite reporter! What can I do for you?”

“Well, see, I have these friends I am trying to get to kiss, and I thought maybe if I gave _you_ this mistletoe, you could find them and…”

“**Mistletoe?! Oh, thank you!”** And he was off.

“But, I didn’t tell you who—“

“OH MY LADY! GUESS WHAT I FOUND!”

Carapace had to argue against throwing the cat in the Seine on Christmas Eve (Queen Bee was all for it), and finally Ladybug came to find Alya. Her voice was soft but somehow very dangerous. “I understand this is _yours_?”

“Heh, well, uh, a bit of a misunderstanding….”

The Miraculous box was snatched out of her hand and the mistletoe sprig (by now much abused) dropped in its place. The superheroine hissed, “I have _told_ you to stop _shipping_ us, Alya!”

“But I am not shipping _you two_, I am trying to get my BFF and…oh, nevermind.” Because LB was already gone.

Yep. Total trainwreck. 

**The Fourth And Final Attempt:**

The logs were sold out, and the bakery was closed. Dinner had been eaten, songs were sung. The Gorilla had shown up to collect Adrien, who was being walked to the car by Marinette. Alya and Nino had not found any other opportunities. It was now or never. Alya said, “So, you distract his guard, and I will run over and hold it over their heads. We have tried subtlety, now it’s time for brute force! Ready, set, g—“

_Cough!_

They turned. Standing behind them, privy to the whole conversation, was the Gorilla. He sighed, snapped his fingers, and pointed at the mistletoe. Alya looked rebellious for a moment until Nino elbowed her in the side, then she surrendered it with a sigh. 

Holding it carefully between two giant fingers, the Gorilla walked over to where his young charge was talking to Marinette by the car. He cleared his throat, and when they both turned to see what he wanted, he held up the mistletoe and gave them both a questioning look.

“Uh…sir…I mean…what are you asking?” Marinette was blushing fiercely.

Adrien did that funny thing where he rubbed the back of his neck when he was nervous or embarrassed and said, “Well, see…Mistletoe doesn’t equal consent. He is asking us if we _want_ him to hold it over us. He’s a gentleman, and would never try to force someone into that. And, I mean, I’m the same way, so if you don’t _want_ him to…?”

“Oh…uh…hehe! I see! Yes, very mental—I mean, very GENTLEmanly of him! But…I wouldn’t mind, I just don’t want _you_ to feel like…”

“Oh, um, I mean, I am not _objecting_, I just didn’t know if _you…!”_

The Gorilla just rolled his eyes and extended his arm until the mistletoe was over their heads.

Finally they gave up stammering and stuttering and just _kissed._ Alya squealed and got a picture, Nino cheered, and Tom and Sabine tossed confetti down from the second story window. 

Everyone’s ship had sailed. 

**Afterward:**

The drive back to the mansion was slow and peaceful. The weather was rapidly getting worse, and a fog was rolling off the Seine, so the Gorilla was taking his time. Besides, it was a beautiful Christmas Eve, just him and the kid.

Who was a good kid, and certainly deserved that kiss. Nice girl, that one. Her friends, though…amateurs who believed that complicated plans would lead to victory.

He sighed.

Just like his boss. At least he and his Miraculous were over the Atlantic somewhere right now. 

Finally they pulled in the gate and he went inside with the kid. Nathalie met them at the door. 

“Well, I hope your day with the Dupain-Chengs went well, and WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT?”

Huh?

OH.

He was still holding the mistletoe. He had intended to just throw it away, but seeing Nathalie’s shocked (and slightly nervous) expression awoke the imp of mischief in him.

So he handed it to her.

Another dangerous amateur addicted to overly complicated schemes, after all. At least it would keep her occupied for a while. Maybe she’d even get to kiss the boss.


End file.
